As straight as an arrow, Kyla Stancik is constructing one for the Ganado Maidens softball field, with the support and guidance of her welding teacher, Albert Diaz, whom is fondly known as Mr. Diaz by all his students.
The arrow is made of carbon steel on three-inch pipes, and will be erected on top of the Maiden scoreboard. In addition, boys in the welding class are also building a similar one for the Indians’ field.
The Maidens’ arrow is special because Stancik is the only female in the welding class who’s also on the softball team. The junior said she went through tons of sketches, and demolished three erasers in the process.
“Our softball team inscribed their names with a metal scribe, plus their name and number. Our coaches did the same,” Stancik said. “Even though the arrow will be sandblasted and painted, we’ll all know, ‘my name is on there.’ It’s memorable to us.”
Diaz agreed. “15 to 20 years from now, it might be their children out there, and they can say, ‘my mom built that,’ or ‘my dad helped build that.’ It will always be there and they know they were a part of it.”
Paid for by a private sponsor, the welding class was very willing to go forward with the projects when Mr. Diaz brought the idea up.
“The school has been doing a lot of repairing at the softball field, they put new dirt and grass to beautify it,” he said. “They’ve spent a lot of money out there so I said, let’s keep it up.”
The teacher commented on Stancik’s ability to adapt quickly to the methods of welding. With her beginning the class in the fall of 2024, not only did she enter a project into the Jackson County Youth Fair, (her first ever), Diaz has seen leadership qualities and her impressive craftsmanship develop quickly.
“Her (Stancik’s) welding skills have been advancing very fast for her level,” he said. “And I want the girls to feel comfortable along with the boys, because there’s female welders out there too.”
“I’ve always seen other people do it, and I thought, ‘oh, that’s just a thing for boys.’ But then I saw other girls in it, so I thought it seemed cool to try,” Stancik said. “I didn’t think I’d like it, but I actually ended up liking being in Mr. Diaz’s class very much. Making this arrow has helped me grow my skills.”
Stancik traced her sketch onto the metal and cut it herself with a hand plasma cutter, which she said was difficult to get just right, but there was something to be said for her cutting the arrow with her own hands… it now looks more rustic, handmade, and shows the imperfections that make something perfect.
“If you’re carving an arrowhead, you’re making it by hand so I wanted our arrow to have the same look,” she said. “Then we’ll smooth out and bevel the edges to make it look more like an arrow. Lastly, we’ll work on the boning and feather with a line down the middle, to add some extra detail.”
In looking at the dimensions and the length of it, the class decided to make the arrow 20 feet and two inches and a half. “So the number would be 2025,” she said. “That was Mr. Diaz’s idea, and we only had to cut off two feet to get it to get to that number.”
Stancik said she hopes the arrow will show their pride and show fans and opposing teams what they’re made of. She believes playing on the Maiden field is difficult for other teams because of the way the fans and community come together to support the team.
Diaz has been with GISD for four years, in an array of guidance with Ag mechanics, Ag structure, welding and Ag design. He oversees the students and inspects their work to make sure it’s of good quality. Diaz is also an FFA advisor, and is proud to have helped start an American Welding Society in order to get students certified. His children graduated from GISD, so the school is like another family to him.
In addition to playing softball since she was eight years old, Stancik also plays Select softball, volleyball, and is an FFA officer.
Mr. Diaz and his students hope to erect the arrows above the scoreboards within the next few weeks, after they’re sandblasted and painted. The Jackson County Herald-Tribune will print a picture of the arrows at that time.
